MLB.com's Carrie Muskat has been covering Major League Baseball since 1981 and is the author of "Banks to Sandberg to Grace: Five Decades of Love and Frustration with the Cubs." You can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat. Here, she blogs about the Cubs.

8/4 Garza says he’s ready

Matt Garza said he expects to start Tuesday against the Padres, which would be his first start since July 21 when he came out of the game with cramping in his right elbow. Garza (5-7, 3.91 ERA) threw a full bullpen on Saturday, and the Cubs will wait to see how the right-hander feels on Sunday before saying for sure who will start.

“I’m just chomping at the bit and ready to go,” Garza said. “Not doing anything for three days didn’t set me back but didn’t work out too well. Today I felt great, threw a whole bullpen and we’ll wake up tomorrow.”

Garza was sidelined while with his wife, who gave birth to the couple’s fourth child on Tuesday in Chicago. The only issue may be stamina. In his last start, Garza threw 33 pitches before he was pulled.

“Even if he goes [Tuesday], it won’t be all that many pitches,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. “If he goes, it would be 70 to 80 pitches and depend on the stress level. [His session Saturday] was encouraging.”

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